Sara McClintock, Assistant Professor of Religion at Emory University, gives a lecture titled Transforming the Five Root Afflictions into the Five Wisdom Buddhas: The Mandala of the Five Buddha Families in Tibetan Buddhism.

Tibetan Buddhism aims at a radical transformation of persons through the transmutation of afflicted bodies and minds into enlightened ones. The five root afflictions that affect all beings in various proportions are ignorance, hatred, craving, greed, and envy. When the energy of these afflictions is purified, the result is a particular kind of embodied enlightened wisdom. This talk explains the symbolism of the five wisdom Buddhas, and asks us to reflect on our own root afflictions with a view toward their eventual transformation.

How foolish you are, grasping the letter of the text and ignoring its intention! - Vasubandhu